The purpose of the Harvard University Health Services Research Training Program (HUHSRTP) is to train outstanding postdoctoral fellows for successful and rewarding careers in health services research. The training program combines formal course work in analytic methods of health services research with applied research experience in six areas: 1) health care quality assessment and improvement, 2) outcomes of medical care in diverse populations, 3) cost-effectiveness analysis and technology assessment of medical interventions, 4) health care financing, 5) medical informatics, and 6) disease prevention policy. Clinical research settings and preceptors are offered at Harvard-affiliated teaching hospitals, Harvard Medical School, and Harvard School of Public Health. The HUHSRTP is designed to provide the training, mentorship, environment, and support necessary to help selected physicians and other health professionals with advanced degrees develop into independent health services researchers. Most fellows will enroll in degree programs based in the Department of Health Policy and Management at the Harvard School of Public Health, the Ph.D. program in health policy administered by the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences at Harvard University, or the medical informatics master's program in the Harvard-Massachusetts Institute of Technology Division of Health Sciences and Technology. Each trainee builds upon the course work taken during the degree program by applying these newly acquired concepts to a specific research question identified at the beginning of the fellowship. The program faculty includes established and productive health services researchers from the disciplines of health economics, decision science, clinical epidemiology, medical informatics, political science, and others. There is a strong programmatic commitment to fellow-initiated research projects, completed under the close supervision of a dedicated faculty preceptor. As a result of the high caliber of the trainees, rich training environment, and dedication of the program faculty, the HUHSRTP has been remarkably successful in producing productive, independent, health services researchers over its 17-year history. This proposal will allow the next generation of these investigators to continue to address evolving issues in health services research. [unreadable] [unreadable] [unreadable]